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Computer Science Mock Exam

From topics Option C - Web science, C.1 Creating the web, C.2 Searching the
web, C.3 Distributed approaches to the web, C.4 The evolving web, C.5 Analysing
the web, C.6 The intelligent web

Question Paper

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Question 1

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland produces an average of 15

petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of experimental data every year. This data
must be accessed and analysed by scientists around the world.

CERN has established the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid.

1. With reference to the URL https://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider [1]

State the protocol used.

2. With reference to the URL https://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider [3]

Identify the steps taken by the domain name server when the scientist enters a
URL such as https://home.cern into their web browser.

3. Explain two reasons why CERN would use grid computing to support its [6]
research.

4. Instead of copyrighting its experimental results, CERN has decided to publish [6]
its experimental results using Creative Commons licensing.

Explain two reasons why CERN would publish its experimental results using
Creative Commons licensing.

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Question 2

A charitable organisation, Harvest, which operates in a less economically

developed country (LEDC), uses old computers that have been donated to
them. The organization relies on WiFi and satellite-based transmission for
access to the Internet.

Harvest is considering using a cloud-based service provided by a large IT

company based in one of the more economically developed countries (MEDC).

1. Outline one technical challenge that Harvest may encounter in setting up its [2]
own website with the technologies that it has available.

2. Explain how the use of cloud-based services may help Harvest to overcome the [4]
limitations of the available technologies.

3. Describe two problems this may cause for an organizsation such as Harvest. [4]

4. Harvest wishes to improve its ranking in the major search engines. [5]

Discuss whether Harvest should use black hat search engine optimization
techniques in order to improve its ranking.

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Question 3

The World Wide Web can be represented as a web graph.

The World Wide Web has expanded significantly over the last 10 years. In June
2018, there were an estimated 1600 million websites and 4100 million users.
This is approximately twice the figures of January 2014.

The World Wide Web can be divided into the text web and the semantic web.

The development of technologies that underpin the World Wide Web has led
to the growth of ambient intelligence and collective intelligence.

1. Describe how a web graph can be used to represent the connectivity of the [4]
World Wide Web.

2. Explain why a user can still navigate from one web page to another web page [4]
in the same amount of time as previously, even though the number of web
pages is significantly larger.

3. Outline two reasons why there needs to be a balance between expressivity and [4]
usability on the semantic web.

4. Identify two features of ambient intelligence. [2]

5. Evaluate the role of collective intelligence in the advancement of human [6]

knowledge.

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Question 4

Brownsville Council run several public libraries in different areas of the city. The
libraries use an Integrated Library Management System (ILMS) to manage all
items (for example books, DVDs, etc.) held by the libraries. Details of the items
are stored in a database on a central server.

Below is part of the extensible markup language (XML) code used to describe
an item.
Book Stark, Elizabeth Computer Science Taylor & Orams Inc.

XML is based on open standards.

Library users interact with the ILMS through a web page that includes a form to
search for items stored on the database.

The library managers have decided to extend their web pages to include a blog
and a forum, maintained by the head librarian, in order to increase
engagement with library users.

1. Define the term extensibility. [1]

2. Outline one advantage of XML for sharing data on the web. [2]

3. Distinguish between open standards and interoperability. [2]

4. Describe the role of the common gateway interface (CGI) in processing search [2]
requests made via the web form.

5. Distinguish between a blog and a forum. [2]

6. To what extent has the use of social media, blogs and forums enabled the head [6]
librarian to be a more effective decision maker?

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Question 5

Sestra.com is a website maintained by a company who sell items made by local

craftspeople.

The website is compatible with different screen sizes and formats ranging from
desktop computers to mobile smartphones. All the site’s pages contain the
following code fragment:

`<link rel = 'stylesheet' href = '../css/default.css'>`

Visitors to the site can search categories of products (for example “Toys”,
“Bags”, “Dresses” etc.) selected from a drop-down menu. The menu is
populated from the records stored in the `CATEGORY`table of the site’s
database.

Parts of the code of the file `search.php`is shown below:

// Other code present here

// Other code present here

Search

// Other code present here

The owners of the company have noticed that Sestra.com does not appear very
prominently in search engine results.

The Sestra.com site includes:

images of each product

pdf documents giving background information about the craftspeople

who produced the products.

1. Identify two ways that a cascading style sheet (CSS) can be used to ensure web [2]
pages are compatible with different screen sizes and formats.

2. Explain the processing this code enables on the server before`search.php` is [3]
sent to the client.

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3. Describe two ways in which the site developers could use white hat [4]
optimization to improve the site’s search engine ranking.

4. Distinguish between lossy and lossless compression. [2]

5. Explain why the developers at Sestra.com would use lossless compression for [3]
the pdf documents.

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Question 6

Jackson City University has a Music Department that provides music lessons to
students in a number of high schools in the city.

The Jackson City University Music Department teachers visit the different
schools in the city to teach students a range of musical instruments.

The following diagram shows an unnormalized table of student data.

1. Explain one benefit of normalizing a database. [3]

2. Identify three ways that incorrect data could be prevented from being added [3]
into the School_phone_no field.

3. Outline what would be necessary to make the above unnormalized table [2]
conform to 1st Normal Form (1NF).

4. Construct the 3rd Normal Form (3NF) of the unnormalized relation shown [8]
above.

5. Explain the difference between 2nd Normal Form (2NF) and 3rd Normal Form [3]
(3NF).

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Question 7

BuildYourWebSite is an online company that provides a number of common

templates for building your own website. Each template includes one HTML
file, one CSS file, a folder of web images, and a folder of special sound effects.

Each template can be downloaded as a single compressed file, using a web

browser.

1. Identify two characteristics of HTML. [2]

2. Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of the template including a CSS file in [6]
addition to the HTML page.

3. Explain why TCP/IP is a reliable protocol in relation to downloading operations. [3]

4. Evaluate lossy compression and lossless compression when used to download [4]
files.

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Question 8

The growth of the Internet has led to increased levels of collaboration between
different IB World Schools.

The World World Web consisted of over 1350 million web pages in 2017. Each
web page is accessed by typing its uniform resource locator (URL) into the
address bar of the browser.

1. Explain why a distributed network such as the World Wide Web may act as a [3]
catalyst to increase the collaboration between different IB World Schools.

2. Explain one function of a web browser. [3]

3. Describe how a domain name server (DNS) functions. [3]

4. Explain how the use of a distributed network, such as the World Wide Web, [5]
may lead to copyright and intellectual property issues.

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Question 9

Tapetum lucidum refers to the layer of tissue in the eyes of many animals, such
as cats and owls, which helps to improve their night vision by reflecting light.
The eyes of these animals glow in the dark.

A student wishes to identify a particular animal which belongs to the above

group.

The web and social media are increasingly populated by pictures of pets and
other animals. Most of these pictures are annotated with tags, such as those
used on social networks.

Search engines use indexing for the storing of keywords that might be used in
a search engine query.

1. With the use of an example, explain how a multimedia search in the semantic [4]
web would be preferable to a text based search for this student.

2. Identify three differences between an ontology and a folksonomy. [3]

3. Discuss whether it is possible to integrate the expressivity of folksonomies with [6]

the authoritativeness of ontologies.

4. Explain the role that web crawlers perform in developing this index. [4]

5. Open source software, such as Linux, is often developed by using the collective [3]
intelligence of the developer community.

Explain how collective intelligence can lead to the successful development of

open source software.

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